Uncalled For
by Nalangs
Summary: What if you're signing up yourself to test the new weapon that Mann Co. had built and joining the mercenaries in the battle as the new class? (TF2 x Reader / Reader's weapon is heavily based on Ana's Overwatch weapon)
1. The Assistant Is Here

If it's not for the car ride with the air cooling working, both you and the woman beside you would be grilled under the sun outside. The said woman adjusted her glasses that had fall to her nose, keeping her eyes to the papers in her other hand. You? You are actually keeping yourself comfortable, watching the road passing by. From tall buildings to hills. Just occasional houses or buildings after few kilometer, other than that hills and fields are present.

The sound of the chauffeur coughing pulls you back to your sense. The woman beside you seems done analyzing the papers and put them back into her hand bag. You know her as Miss Pauling, the one who interviewed and giving you trial a month ago, "All papers have been signed and the contract has got an approval. You're officially joining us now," says her with collected voice. You look at her, acknowledging what she has said. She continues, "Everyone has been informed about your arrival today. You will meet them as soon as we arrived in… any second," she looks at the watch on her wrist.

Your eyebrows raise on her words, you are about to ask her about it when you feel the road under you not as smooth as it used to be. As you look out of the front window, you can see that the driver has took them out of the main road and entering a rather rocky road between two hills. Rather obvious fake bushes appeared after the car passed it and another obvious camouflage curtain rolls down as well. You are quite taken aback at the sight and look back to Miss Pauling, and the chauffeur as well, "Uhm…" your eyebrows knit together as you point at the sight after you, though both of them don't seem bothered. Somehow. You are quite unsure how to feel about it so you keep quiet.

Both of you, except the chauffeur, exit the car. You sling your big sling-bag on your shoulder and grip the briefcase with your right hand, then catch up with Ms. Pauling… and other who have been waiting for you. The other is a group of nine men wearing their red characterized uniform. Some look at you curiously, some with anticipation, and some unreadable. Welp.

"Guys, meet the 'Assistant'," says Miss Pauling as her hand and head move in sync to your direction, introducing you to the men. You still couldn't get use to the name of 'Assistant' though eventually you would, you note to yourself, smiling at the men as you bow your head for a couple of seconds, "Please to make your acquaintance everyone. I am the 'Assistant' and will assist you the best I can."

"That sounds like a pun joke. No offense," says one of the men suddenly. He is wearing a hat and has dog tags necklace. He eyes you curiously and yet also skeptical. Seems the most younger in the group, you think to yourself. The young man continues, "What are they supposed to do actually on the field? I mean… assisting. We DO assist each other ya know? Sometimes. So, what makes this class different?"

He got a point.

Miss Pauling pushes strands of her hair from blocking her view, taking the place to answer the man, "Assistant will work the same like the Medic, assisting him on healing. Though, they have different instrument to use on the field."

One of the men, who you assume is the Medic (with his obvious outfit and medical cross logo on his sleeves), perks up when he heard his class was getting mentioned. His eyes glinting with surprise then turning his attention to you. You bow your head once more at him, "Please take care of me."

"How interesting," you turn your attention to the voice. It belongs to a masked tall man in suit. Thick accent rolls on his words. Probably French, "It seems we will be having two medics in zhe team."

Miss Pauling nods her head, "Basically, Spy. Administrator thought that the use of more health supporter will increase the team's performance…" and entertainment.

"What? Does she think our performance is not good enough? That she thought we couldn't _assist_ our own ass?" the previous man with dog tags spat his words out with irritation. He glares at you, which you reply with tight lipped mouth and 'welp' expression.

"Not exactly like that, Scout," the said man, who you know as Scout now, looks back to the glasses woman, "We are running a test on this new equipment developed by the company as well as the class itself. We wonder if it will be effective on the battlefield."

Scout seems still skeptical with her answer as he looks like he is going to voice another protest when the masked man, Spy, cut him with a question of his own, "What kind of weapon, _mademoiselle_ Pauling?" now with a hint of curiosity and amusement in his clear grey-ish blue eyes.

"Assistant will show you the new instrument after I leave and explain exactly what they will do—" answers Miss Pauling, "—which I'm actually leaving now."

"Oh shoot! Won't you stay a bit longer, Miss Pauling, and have dinner with us, me alone if you want, I won't refuse ya know?" asks Spy with a hopeful grin as he follows after Miss Pauling toward the car. You are left alone with the rest of the men, watching Scout seemingly trying to woo the busy woman.

"Assistant."

You turn your head and meet with a pair of googles; the man who had just called you is wearing a google and safety helmet. He is smiling as he offer his open hand, "I'm the Engineer. It's a nice feeling ta have a new person joining this group. Just come to me when you need a help on engineering," he chuckles. You smiles at him and accept his hand, "The pleasure is all mine, Sir Engineer. I will make sure come for your service."

Engineer chuckles at your response then end the handshake. A big man steps in. He has fierce look as he offers his hand for a handshake as well, "I'm Heavy Weapons Guy. I fire big gun."

"That is nice. I would surely look forward to assist you in the future, Sir Heavy Weapon Guy," says you while firmly shake his hand. Surprisingly his hold is gentle, despite his rough appearance. His words also covered by thick European accent. Everyone has accent it seems.

"Just Heavy is fine," Heavy adds as he release your hand.

"Noted, Heavy."

Then one by one the others introduce themselves to you eventually, including Scout who is 'left' behind by Miss Pauling, "The name's Scout. Not sure what ya do, but as long as it doesn't get in ma way, all's good."

You show him a small grin, "I assure you I won't."

After you release hand with Scout, a rather tight bone crushing hug embraces you. You are taken aback and try not to fall back, which is a success. The smell of gasoline and burn poke your smelling nerves. It is kind of overwhelming. You could only pat the back of the individual before they're letting you go. They are wearing a gas mask and fire symbol is patched onto both of their sleeves.

"This is Pyro. He is our Pyrotechnic in the group; he's a chill dude," Engineer steps in as he introduces the man with a pat on his shoulder. Pyro nods his head happily while showing you a thumb up, "Hrrrrree!"

"He said 'hello'," Engineer steps in to help you translate.

Oh, "Hello, Sir Pyro. I'll be looking forward to work with you on the field."

Pyro moves his hands and shaking his head, "Mmhhrr mhhhr hudda mmmh!"

"He said just call him Pyro."

Oh, "Alright, Pyro!"

After all of those introductions, you are led into inside the building where you show them the new instrument Miss Pauling had mentioned before. All of you are gathering inside a room that you assume as a meeting room. There is a black board with long desk and chairs line up, and every men had occupied the chairs as you stand, showing the thing on the front. A sniper rifle.

"What? This the new stuff they're talking about? Looks like Snipe's rifle but more advanced looking. And how do you suppose to heal us? Ending our life faster when we're dying? Pffftt," Scout crossed his hands on his chest as he leans against the chair. Sniper glares at Scout through his glasses under his safari hat at the mention of his rifle.

Soft laughter escapes your lips, "There's always that option hanging in the air I suppose."

Scout shots you a frown and 'what the hell' look your way which you shrug, "But no."

You produce a box of ammunition with liquid inside visible. The shape of the bullet is round like a paint ball; the liquid itself is sizzling, "These are called biotic bullets. It contains healing substance and it will penetrate the liquid inside when it comes in contact with you," you pull out one of them and show it to the men, "You will only feel a little sting and getting back your energy, I assure you," you add before someone asking. Precaution.

"I was about ta ask that," Engineer remarks with a grin. You gun finger him with a wink and small grin, "Gotcha."

You load the bullet into the rifle chamber, rotate the bolt handle down, pressing against the resistance as the lugs locked up firmly and the bolt cocked on closing. Shouldering the weapon, you target Engineer who flinches and jumps out of his chair when you fire. The other men are in shock, especially Scout, " **WHAT THE FUCK?** "

Engineer who has his arms brought up to shield himself open his closes eyes and peek over. He can feel a vague sting on his right arm and a rather strange burst energy within him. The same feeling when Medic used his Medi Gun on him, "W-what—?"

"My apologize for my rude performance, though my intension was only to show how it works. As you can feel, little sting and sudden energy," says you, lowering the weapon down onto the table. You realize that the men are kind of gawking at you. Must be thinking that you are impulsive. Which is not false, said you in your mind.

After a while, Medic breaks the silence, " _Wunderbar!_ "


	2. It Is Time For The Examination

After performing your in-battle weapon to the men and getting a short tour around the building, you were escorted to your assigned room. There are four doors, and the last door at the end of the hallway is yours. The other three already had a name plate on the surface. Medic, Spy, Sniper. And then yours, "Dinner will be on 7 o'clock. Until then, make yourself at home," Engineer who has shown you around pat you on the back and smiling, leaving you alone after you thanked him. You insert the key into the keyhole on the doorknob, and with a click the door open. You drop your sling bag onto the floor near the bed, placing down the briefcase onto the desk.

"…"

Silence occupies the room as you stare into the wall in front of you. Muffled sound of people conversing can be heard from outside your room although it's not clear. You are exhausted from the long trip to get here, but more so your mind is filled with many thought. You snap out of your mind when a knock on the door wake you up. Turning your head, you wait for someone to identify themselves, "Assistant. May I have a vord wiz you?"

Medic.

You open the door for the doctor. His figure stand tall in front of you and he gets this wide smile on his face; slightly making you unnerving and uncomfortable at the same time. Still, you smile at him, "How may I help you, doctor?"

"Zhere vould be a procedure for zhe respawn system—" oh yeah you've heard about the respawn from Ms. Pauling. Which you think is convenient and terrific at the same time, "—also zhe use of my uber charge. Please come to zhe medical bay viz me so I could do zhe procedure on you before dinnertime."

Following him behind, you notice how broad his shoulder and how graceful the tail of his coat sway as he walk. Kind of like watching a scene from a movie, you muse to yourself. You pass by the living room and kitchen and then the Medic turn to a hallway which lead you to a basement. At the end of the hallwayd is a double door. He open the doors for both of you and enter a rather wide room with many medical related stuffs inside. There is a gurney in the middle of the room. Rows of cabinet lined up against the wall. A single desk with lot of papers, files, and pined notes is rested at the corner of the room. Another desk to the corner which look like a working desk. There are also beds inside the room.

"Please change your clozh wiz zhis. You can change behind zhat curtain," Medic hands you a hospital dress as he points to the bed section. As the man instructed you too, you take the dress and go behind the curtain, taking off your sleeveless jacket and then shirt, as well as your other protection, then swiftly put the dress Medic has given to you, "Can I wear my pants still, doctor?"

" _Ja._ "

Oh, cool.

You step out of the curtain and approach the doctor who has been preparing the tools. You see stuffs that you usually saw for the preparation of a surgery, which make you thinking, "It requires surgery? The procedure?"

Medic turns around as he finished preparing everything he needs on the tray. There is a grin when you look at him, " _Ja_. A heart surgery."

Colour drains from your face. Medic notices it and chuckle at the sight, "It vould be fine, Assistant! Now, please get on zhe gurney so ve could start."

You stand on your ground. Flabbergasted.

"Assistant, _bitte_?" asks Medic again with more emphasize. Slowly you make your way toward the gurney, feeling the surface before getting up with a hop. Sitting on the bed, waiting. The man had went to wash his hands at the sink in the room. You notice how high the ceiling is in the room and there is an area which seemingly connected to a room. A glass area where people could watch what happen in the room from above.

"…"

"Uhm doctor… how would the procedure go? If I'm allowed to ask."

Medic is back with his hands steril. However no indication that he would wear surgery gloves. _Is he going to do it bare handed?_

"J _a_. I vill replace your heart wiz zhe customized heart vhich I've developed for zhe use of ze uber charge. And zhen, ve vill continue to do zhe brain surgery to inject zhe chemical zhat vill create mutation on your brainstem so you could respawn vhen you die," Medic answers you with excitement and glee in his voice, which actually drain almost all of the colour from your face once again. Which he takes notice as well. The man touches your cheek as if he were pinching a kid's cheek when they're pouting and do sweet talking, "Oh don't be such a baby. It vill be fine, trust me. Now would you please lie down."

Swiftly Medic helps you with the dress and placing the surgical drape on you. He proceed with the anesthesic on the chest area and then turning the handle of the thing above you, which you thought was one of the lamps at first (although it has weird noozle). You feel light-headed at first when the red beam appears and flow from the noozle to your chest area. You can feel your heart beating slightly faster before it goes back to normal rate. You wait for the anesthesic kick in but you didn't feel any different beside getting warm and relaxed. You almost jump on your place seeing the scalpel that the Medic holds closely to your heart area, "W-wait wait, Doc! I don't think the anesthesic kicking in yet—"

"It's a local anesthesic. You'll be avake zhe entire time! Isn't it exciting to vatch your own heart?"

Your eyes go wide and you try to get up from the bed, but Medic firmly hold you down yet gentle, "Don't vorry, _mein freund_. Zhe Medi Gun vill help you cope up viz zhe surgery!"

He leans down and whisper to your ear with a soothing tone, "Trust me."

When he is certain you've calmed down for a bit, he brings the scalpel back and down to your chest. He gives pressure on the flesh and you can feel it grazes you. It doesn't hurt as much as you think it would. But still. You look up and avoid watching the whole process. Though you couldn't do much with the sound Medic made as he operates. By the tip of your eyes you notice some pair of doves hanging around the room and actually watch the surgery, "Doves…?"

" _Ja_ , zhey've been viz me for a long time," explains Medic, now taking an instrument to hold the open flesh in place. You see the red everywhere and you wonder how you can still hold it together. One of the doves fly down and land on your head, then settle comfortably. By now, you don't give anything a mind at all. It feels quite nice actually with the warmth the dove provides to your scalp, "Oh? Archimedes seems to take a liking to you. He rarely ever get close to stranger."

"I like him…" you close your eyes and then you feel yourself in a blank state. By the time everything turns back normal to you, you are come face to face with Medic. He gets this smug grin on his face, " _Willkommen zurück!_ You vere dead vhen I took out your heart, but now you're back alive again! I did your brain too vhen you vere out, so everyzhing is done here. It vork now!"

Your jaws slightly open with eyes staring wide at the doctor, who still grinning at you, innocently. You look down and see the mess on your hospital dress, smell of iron overwhelm your nose. How could he say it casually that you were dead for a while? And taking your hear out? You feel lightheaded for a second, thankfully the red beam from the Medi Gun slowly help you with the incoming sickness. You wish no more surgery in the future.

As you bring your hand to your head, you are in contact with something feathery and a coo, also a soft peck to your fingers. The dove, Archimedes. still nestling on your scalp. You gently stroke him on the head. He gives a satisfaction coo and nuzzles to your touch.

"It von't take long for zhe Medi Gun to fully heal you; you vill have some time too for shower if you vant before dinner," says Medic as he is doing an after surgery clean up to you and his surgery equipment. He looks up when you aren't responding, to find you softly snoring with Archimedes nuzzling on your head. It is quiet a sight with the bloody mess on you.

The bird flaps his wings and coos to his owner, who responds back with a smile that much too evil for comfort, " _Ja_ , I agree Archimedes. Let's let zhe Assistant take some rest for a bit."


	3. Family Dinner

Droplets of water drop from the tip of your hair. You begin drying your hair with the towel in front of the mirror in the bathroom. The bathroom is a shared one and has ten stalls with curtain. People do love their little privacy in here huh? You thought to yourself as you rub your face with the towel and peek to the mirror with the fabric covering your jaw. A pair of eyes staring back with solemn look, some strand of wet hair fall covering your face.

After the surgery (where Medic woke you up after you had fallen asleep with mess on you), you went to take a shower to clean yourself, as well as to relax yourself. The German doctor told you that bathing is not a problem after your surgery and likely won't get in the way with your wound, because the Medi Gun had completely 'fixed' yourself. As you examine your chest, you can see a rather visible straight line scar in the middle of it. You touch it and thought how unbelievable it is that you had just done a heart surgery, and walking around just fine.

"Eh..." you chuckle to yourself at the thought. The Medi Gun, respawn, and all of these, who wouldn't laugh at that? Well, not laughing when you watch something funny, but more like... uncertainty?

You put on your white tank top and then a red long-sleeved t-shirt which you roll up to your elbows, next is dark below-the-knee-length pants, before getting out of the shower room. Your boots make sound as you walk. You try to head back to your room, passing by the kitchen. You can hear the clashing sound between the turner and the pan, the smell of something being fried is lingered in the air. Quietly you peek into the kitchen and notice the none other Engineer cooking. You enter the room with towel hanging on your shoulder, "Sir Engineer?"

Engineer whips his head around and greets you with a smile, "Oh howdy, Assistant. I didn't hear ya coming. I see ya got some shower there; dinner will be ready soon," Engineer says as he flips something that look like chicken breast. You can smell pepper coming out of it. There is two plates contain with chicken breast as well on the counter, already fried.

"I want to help. What can I do?" you ask boldly. Thing that you learn from your experience in life is, it's better to state what you need or want clearly. Depends on the situation though. Also, you don't know what to do until dinner come, so might as well help around. Somehow.

The man, still focus on frying the chicken breast, reply back, "Well, I usually do all of it by my self, but... can ya help dish the salad?"

"I can do that," you smile. Stroking back your hair with the towel and put the fabric back around your shoulder, you approach the sink, where a bowl of variety of vegetable are drowned in water. Cherry tomatoes, red and green lettuces, red onions, red bell peppers, mache(s), and carrots. One of the vegetable is not to your liking, but well, who are you to be picky?

You proceed to cut the vegetables into pieces and put them all into a big bowl you got from the cabinet. You ask the Engineer about the salad dressing which he told you to look inside the refrigerator. After rummaging for quite some time through the stuffs in the cooling box, you find the only salad dressing in there. You notice it smells like parsley and garlic when you open the lid to check. Must be homemade, you thought to yourself as you put some onto the salad and stir them. The salad is done.

"Done!" you say to yourself joyfully. It's always a happy feeling to finish what you start—

"Ooooh they smell amazing, lads!"

You flinch at the sudden shout behind you and see Demoman is at the doorway with a bottle of whatever-it-is in his right hand. The Scottish man is grinning ear to ear as he walks to the nearest chair and slump down. He placed the bottle in front of him on the dinner table.

Engineer grins with satisfaction. He puts the potato wedges he had just fried onto a big bowl and bring it to the table, then the two plates of fried chickens, "Thanks, son."

You bring the salad to the table as well. Fried potato wedges, fried chickens, and salad. You suppose it's a good balanced nutrient; didn't expect it honestly. Thought they would make their own food, or just eat something like fast food, "Appetizing."

The cook smiles at your compliment and pat you on the shoulder, only to feel the damp on your upper t-shirt, "You're not gonna put the towel down? You're gonna get cold with that thing around."

"Ah—" you notice just then that the towel indeed damped your t-shirt at the neck area. You pull off the towel and hang it onto the chair on the chair that you're going to sit, which beside Demoman, who has slumped his head down on the table. Engineer takes out two big bottles of water from the refrigerator and place them onto the table beside the salad. You help him with the plates, spoons, and forks, setting them one by one. The last is the mugs that Engineer put on the table beside the water jars; free for anyone to use.

 _It feels like a family dinner._

"Alrighty! Everyone will come eventually," Engineer takes a plate and put a fried chicken and some fried potato wedges and some salad, then handed the plate to you.

"Thank you, Sir Engineer," you accept the plate. They smell so good that you couldn't wait to gobble them up.

"Engie is fine. That sounds too informal for me, to be called 'Sir' every time ya call me," he shots you a grin as he helps Demoman with a portion, then himself.

"Alright, Engie."

The other men come joining the three of you for dinner and having conversation as they eat. It turns out they have schedule for whoever making dinner; Medic had suggested this for better performance from eating homemade food. They didn't mind and actually take a liking to the routine. If they didn't feel like it, they could always make the food themselves. And of course, you are going to get scheduled for making dinner soon. You are not sure, although you don't have any problem following a recipe.

"I'm curious viz ze substance in ze biotic bullets, vould it possible for me to get one for scientific purpose, Assistant?" Medic asks you during the dinner. You nod your head as you gulp down the water, then smiling at him, "Sure, Doctor. I don't think it's forbidden for a teammate to investigate the weapon. I'll bring it to you later."

"Excellent!" Medic exclaims excitedly but not too loud. You keep in mind to get the box later and visit the medical bay again. Hopefully no more surgery, you laugh mentally.

After answering occasional questions and what-not from your would-be-teammates, you are done with dinner. You helped the Engineer on washing the dishes and insisted on helping although he refused at first. He gave up and both of you washing them in comfortable silence, sometime engaged in small talk. After that you bid farewell to the man (not forgetting your towel too) and go up to your room to retrieve the box of biotic bullets to give it to the Medic. You easily find the man in the medical bay. You push the double doors and peek into the room, "Pardon my intrusion, Doctor...?"

"Oh, Assistant! I've been vaiting for you!" Medic gets up from his chair and strides toward you with glee.

You enter the room and walks toward him as well, now placing the box of ammunition down onto his desk. You notice files piling up neatly on it, "These are the bullets."

"Oh? You give all of zhem to me?" Medic asks while lifting up one of his eyebrows.

You tilt your head to the side, "You don't need all of them...?"

He laughs at your response and shakes his head, " _Nein_ , I actually need only one of zhem, or probably two if it's alright."

"Oh-I thought you need many..." you reply sheepishly, taking out two bullets and hand them to the man.

"Aheh. Zat's very zhoughtful of you, Assistant. _Danke schön_!" Medic smiles at you as he received the things he need. He goes to another desk in the room, seemingly his work desk with all the experimenting instruments on in.

You watch the doctor admiring the bullets you had given to him, "I suppose zhey are zhe same substance zhat I vas using for zhe healing bow."

"Healing bow?" you tilt your head at the new information.

Medic nods his head and then waltz across the room to get to one of the cabinets. He takes out a weapon that likely is a crossbow, but modified, "Zhis is zhe Crussader's Crossbow. Sometimes zhe men are too far for zhe healing viz zhe Medi Gun, so I invented zhis in order for a more effective healing."

You inspect the weapon. Rather than a bow, it's actually look like a modified syringe. You wonder if it's going to be a hassle to pull it out after the penetration. Though you can understand how effective it would be in the battlefield for a teammate who is too far for a healing.

"But it vas also a bozher and cost a lot of money to use anymore syringe for a veapon, since I've used many for zhe Syringe Gun," he grimaces at the thought. Yet he brightens up the next second, "Und I made a report about zhe crossbow and ask vhezher it is possible to create a flexible long distance veapon and didn't cost too many syringe. I didn't expect zhey vill modified zhe substance I had attached to zhe report... even pair it to zhe sniper rifle... how interesting."

The Medic looks at you and smugly grinning, "I vill be looking for your performance tomorrow, _Assistent_."


	4. Rise And Shine

Scout is sprawling all over the sofa in the rec room. Pyro is sitting on the floor watching the carton show on the television; he claps happily whenever the characters in the show doing something that amused him. Scout peeks to the show sometimes but has less interest to watch it fully, so he makes himself busy with the baseball in his hands, playing catch. He throws it up to the air and the ball falls down back onto his hands. Sound of footstep getting near could be heard; the Bostonian stretches his neck to see who is coming. It is you. Pyro waves his hands as you wave back at the man, who continue to watch the cartoon show. You smile at Scout when you notice he was staring. The man snorts as he wiggles and rest his head on the cushion arm. His eyes following you who is sitting on the other empty sofa.

"So. Ya gonna assist us huh?" Scout starts with sarcasm hinted in his voice. He throws the baseball again up to the air and then catch it with his right hand.

"Basically. However, I'm looking for your co-operation as well. As it has mentioned before, this weapon is in beta, and I am here to test," you nod as you explain the circumstance. After all that is what the contract said; you are under a one year contract for weapon test. You are expected to deliver report every two weeks to the company concerning the biotic weapon you would be using later.

Scout raises an eyebrow and look at you up and down. All of them are mercenary, and although Scout is the 'slim' person in the group and yet his figure is fit to the war they are fighting in the moment. As for you, he didn't catch any vibe of a mercenary from you, although you are not that civilian enough, "Ya didn't look like a mercenary or anyone with fighting experience in their CV ya know."

You are leaning against the arm cushion with your right hand support your chin. Hearing him say that making you giving him a long look, eyebrows raise up. Your lips twitch.

Seeing you speechless with such expression make Scout laugh, "Don't get me wrong, buddy! I was just saying, although ya aren't little, it just didn't give me the vibe—even Engineer got this scary aura although he didn't show it to ya—" he sits up from his nap, facing you with frantic manner. You note to yourself he is a bold man.

"And all this new class? After all these years? Ridiculous! We've been doing fine with only Medic after all, ya see. Didn't mean to dismiss ya. Not like I hate ya, you got me?" Scout continues his speech, leaning toward you.

You have a small toothy smile on your face as you speak, "All is good. I got that a lot about me. But rest assure, can I call you Scout? That I have experience in fighting. If not, I wouldn't be here wouldn't I? Though I may be not as strong as all of you"

Scout looks at you with content. You are right after all. To think of it, the company would not randomly hire someone incompetent and 'toss' them into the battlefield. Take a sample, him. He is competent and reliable, also incredible, everyone knows it; hence the company hire him into this war. He acknowledges your reason, "Well, fair 'nough," he shrugs. A grin soon occupies his face, "Ya gonna witness how awesome I am. Don't lose yer head on the battlefield ya see? But wait, we're already outta our mind here. So nevamind," he shrugs again without a care.

You lost yourself. Your shoulder shudder as you try to hold your roar of laughter from escaping, instead scrunching over forward, hiding your face on your laps, chuckling. Scout looks at you with a frown at first, but then laugh at the sight. Both of you are in a good mood.

"Leetle Scout and Assistant are laughing; what is it about?" strong Russian accent greet both of Scout's and your ears. Heavy steps into the room with a plate of sandwich. His weight make a dip onto the cushion next to you. He studies both of you who have regained composure. Scout is still snickering under his breath while you cough to catch up your breath.

"That is good to be friend. Friend is family," continues Heavy before taking a bite of his sandwich. He nods his head seeing you giving a wonder upon his words. Family is important. Teamwork is important.

You look down to your hands with a smile. Being accepted is a good feeling, "I'll do my best. Please take care of me."

Heavy nods again in aggreement without saying anything. Scout gives you his wide grin and a firm handshake, "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Mmmhh mmhhh mhhmm!" Pyro brings his thumbs up in the air, joining the friendly atmosphere.

* * *

Sniper leans against the wall with arms crossed on his chest as he listening to the conversation in the rec room. His glasses fall to his nose. In his grip is a hot water thermos. He meant to head back to his van after making some coffee, but he saw you entering the rec room and ended up listening for a 'bit'. He analyzed your behavior and he could assume you are not talkative, but not too quiet as well. Too friendly to his liking, from what he saw. Not like he mind it, just he is the type keep-to-oneself person, and getting close to new individual easily is not his forte.

"Seems like our new friend is adapting just fine with zhe others."

The Aussie flinches away from his place and whips his head around to see Spy is already beside him, smirking, cigarette between his lips. Spy shots him a glare, "Bugger, Spook! Stop popping so suddenly!"

Spy chuckles at the man's comment but dismiss to talk back, "I'm quite intrigued with zheir weapon of choice; a medic sniper. Wouldn't it be exciting?" Spy eyes the sniper beside him with a glint of amusement.

The man in mention looks back to the rec room where you silently watch the cartoon show with Pyro while also listening to Scout's babble, commenting his topic with little words here and there; no hint of annoyance, but amusement. He takes back about you being friendly; rather than friendly, you are adaptive, "Nah, mate. I wouldn't careless. We'll see 'bout that in the field," Sniper shrugs his shoulder. He adjusts his hat and gets up from the wall, leaving the French man behind.

Spy looks at Sniper then you with lingering smirk on his smile. The Assistant; a medic sniper he might say. He couldn't wait to witness what you are capable of. He didn't expect much from you but best if you could make this mundane war a bit interesting with your presence.

* * *

After your conversation with Scout, Heavy, and Pyro; mostly the Bostonian, you went to sleep early. And a few hours into your slumber, you are woken up by a loud shout by Soldier in the morning, telling everyone to get up and stuffs. The prideful American even going as far as barging into your room to snatch the blanket away from you. You shiver as soon as your skin comes into contact with the chill morning, sleepily force yourself to sit up on your bed.

"Get up, Maggot! Move your ass!" Soldier chirps loudly to your face as you try to get away from his close proximity to your personal space.

"Yessir…" you reply with sleepy tone. Waking up in the morning can be hell sometimes.

Satisfied giving you an early morning heart attack, Soldier storms outside to find his next 'victim'. You groggily get up and go to bathroom. You almost stumble on your own foots when entering the room, luckily someone catched your arms from the falling.

"Careful, mate."

You are face to face with the Sniper when you look up to see who is your savior. The man has a towel around his shoulder and you can see water dripping from his chin. He lets go of you as soon as he is certain you are standing properly on your feet. You hum a thank you which he acknowledges and continue with his business.

Approaching the sink beside him, you turn the faucet and scoop the flowing water and wash your face. You blink a few times to your reflection in the mirror, squinting your eyes to drove away the sleepiness. From the mirror, you can see Sniper swiftly shave his face and keep his stuble. His orange-shade glasses is neatly folded on the sink so you could see his eyes colour which…

You squint your eyes a bit more. They look gray from a far, but actually blue from close up. They are very light color—

"Uhm… mate…? What are you doing...?"

When your sense back to you, you realize how close you are with Sniper. You literally are leaning toward him and staring into his eyes. They are staring back at you startled; the lens widen.

"Eh—s-sorry, sorry—dang it I didn't mean to do that—I was too fixated with your eyes that I—" you scurry away from his personal space; feeling embarrassed with your impulsive action. You bring a hand to cover your face, then pinching the bridge of your nose, sighing.

Sniper raises one of his eyebrows at you, amused. The tip of his lips twitch upward, "My eyes? Heh, didn't know they gonna be that hypnotizing."

Still pinching the bridge of your nose, avoiding eye contact with him, you reply with a sigh, "They are…"

He is taken aback slightly with your response. It is either a compliment or just a hollow reply.

You finally look at him with guilt in your eyes, "I'm so sorry, Sir. Sometimes I act without thinking…" you lower your head in shame. To him, you look like a guilty puppy which is a funny sight.

Sniper sighs and then smile. He brings his big hand on top of your head and ruffle the hair, "It's alright, mate. Crickey! I was only surprised. So, no need to be sorry, aye?"

You look up to the smiling Aussie. He shows his canine teeth as he smile. You return the gesture while sighing softly, "Alright, thank you, Sir."

"Just Sniper. It feels weird when ya call me like that…"

Somehow almost everyone have been asking you not to address them with 'Sir', "Aye, Sniper."

Sniper chuckles at your response. He throws another stroke to your hair. Your hair is smooth to his rough hand and he actually likes the feeling of it, although he won't admit it.

"Then, I'll be going now. I'm looking forward to our co-operation on the battlefield later. See you later, Sniper!" waving your hand at the older man, you exit the bathroom, leaving him behind.

Sniper stares at the closed door for a moment. He moves to look at the mirror, eyes boring to his reflection, "Hypnotizing huh…?"


	5. Warcry

You sling the tails of your muffler scarf around your shoulder, loosely arranging them so it won't suffocate you. Your red jumper is not too thick and not too thin, where your cargo pants fit your legs just fine as it matched with a pair of high top dark boots. Comfortable. That is the right word for your current get up.

"Ooooh that's some nice shoes ya got there."

Turning your head to your side you are facing Scout who is whistling and cocking his eyebrows at your boots. You jog a bit on your place justifying his compliment, smiling wide, "Isn't it? They are light. Faster movement is good."

"God yes! Faster is better! That's me!" Scout puffs his chest proudly. You could only smile at his remark. Scout is wearing a similar red colored t-shirt, though the man had rolled up the sleeves up to his forearms. He also wears a hat, and a headset attached on top of it. His dog tags glinting. You have heard about Scout, as well as reading his file given by Miss Pauling (to slightly get to know your team), that he is a fast runner and usually a distraction to the enemy. From his get-up, you can see why. He is 'light'.

"Well then, see ya later!" with that, Scout swiftly walks away in quick pace to the other room. Leaving you alone with your preparation.

You shrug and going back to your stuffs. You grab the military waist pack from the bench and attach it properly around your high hips, tight enough it won't fall as well as not hurting you. The bullets are securely stored inside as well as the other necesity stuffs. The sniper rifle is designed to hold three bullets at the same time. You wonder if it would be efficient, as it would heavily lie on your speed to reload the ammunition and your effectiveness in battle.

Grabbing your weapon, which now attached with a bayonet as well, you sigh softly. Praying silently that everything is going to be fine. At least not too bad.

" _Guten morgen_ , _Assistent_!" Medic enters the room with his get-up. He is wearing his long beige coat. Under the coat he is likely wearing a white shirt as red tie neatly tied around the collar. You notice his hands are equipped with a pair of red rubber gloves. His class emblems are either knitted to the sleeves of his coat, just like your class emblems on your jumper sleeves.

 _It is interesting that each of you are divided by class._

"How are you feeling?" he asks. Simple question to start a conversation, nothing too deep.

"No hint of heart malfunction, so I assume I'm fine," you reply to him jokingly while slinging the sniper rifle over your shoulder.

Medic finds your answer amusing. He attaches the Medi Gun pack over his shoulder, then humor you back, "Zhat is very good to know, _mein freund_. I vouldn't… vant to vitness one of zhe mercenaries constantly going back to respawn every… four minutes."

You raise your eyebrows at him, "I see that it has happened before."

"Oh, you vouldn't vant to know how complicated it vas back zhen."

"I suppose it's a story for another time," you have a lopsided small grin on your face.

Glad that your heart is not malfunctioning.

He finished tightening the harness so his gear won't trouble him later. He looks back at you with a knowing smile, "Ve can make an appointment for zhat later."

"Sure why not, Sir. Hopefully no more surgery in the future."

He laughs at your response, a grin appears on his face as he leans down to face you, "Ve can arrange zhat. I'm looking forward to co-operate viz you."

You smile back nervously, "As do I."

* * *

" _Mission begins in 30 seconds._ "

"Are you nervous, leetle Assistant?" Heavy asks as he wields the heavy weapon he has been proudly called Sascha. Probably later you should name your weapon.

"A little. But I'm ready," you have been tightening and loosening your fingerless gloves a few times already due to anxiety. You offer a sheepish smile to the big Russian man, "I really should stop doing this…"

"It's good. But not in front of enemy. Assistant should show how strong they are in front of the enemy and outsmart them," Heavy puts his big hand on your shoulder and gives you gentle pats. You look up to him and see him nod at you. You can feel the anxiety within you worn off a bit. You appreciate the gentle giant's concern.

You let out a breathy sight, then gratefully nod your head back to him, "Thank you, Heavy."

"It's all good, Assistant."

" _Mission begins in 10 seconds."_

You grip the leash of your weapon, eyes focus to your front. Beside you Heavy readies his gun with Medic standing close behind him. You step back as Soldier makes his way to the front, a rocket launcher firmly gripped by him. You couldn't see his eyes under that helmet, oddly enough he wears it everywhere and everytime. He is laughing. His manic laughter somehow weird you out.

" _Five."_

Scout scoots closer to you. You raise an eyebrow at him.

" _Four."_

"Think ya can catch up with me out there, pal?" he grins at you.

" _Three."_

Very competitive. You smile back, "We will see, pal."

" _Two."_

Scouts laughs, "Ya should heal me good, _Doc._ "

" _One."_

Readying your weapon, you give Scout a smile, "I'm not a Doc, but I will got your back."

* * *

Sniper loads another bullet into the chamber of his weapon and shoot the running enemy BLU Demoman on the other side of the area. He has been taking a hold of his position on this place for quite sometime, soon he has to move to another location.

As he scopes the area, he notices you are moving forward with your weapon firmly gripped close to you. You take a shelter and then shoot the said biotic bullet at Soldier who was taking damage from the BLU Demoman he had killed before, healed the American. For some reason the biotic bullet didn't heal the injury like Medic's Medi Gun did to them. Sniper wonders about it as he keeps watching you from afar, telling Soldier something before he partakes from you. Suddenly he notices something like steam appears behind you and the BLU Spy appears from thin air dangerously close with his balisong in hand. Sniper's eyes go wide, he aims the Spy on the head—

* * *

You are done healing the Soldier when you hear a vague sound of something sizzling in the air behind you. Turning your head around, you are face to face with Spy, but instead wearing his redwood suit and mahogany mask, this one's wearing blue. He gets a sinister smile on his face, " _Bonjour._ "

Surprised, you swing your rifle toward him as you drop down to the ground, rolling to the side, trying to avoid the stab. You feel sharp pain on your right forearm. A loud crack could be heard after that. The enemy Spy is frozen in place with a hole on his forehead; his lifeless body falls on you. You look up and see a glint from quite afar. Sniper peeking through his scope as he watches you smiling to his direction, mouthing a thank you. You push the dead BLU Spy aside, getting on your feet, then continue moving forward to follow after your other teammates while trying to avoid walking in open area too much.

* * *

The Australian sighs softly under his breath as he watches you walking away alive, but still not to a safe place. Their battles never have safe place outside their respawn and supply room. But at least you can live a little longer, for a moment. Sniper is not sure why he gets a bit concerned when he saw that BLU Spy was trying to back-stabbing you just then. He has seen many time when the Spy is about to kill somebody from his team and he got him before the French man could finish his job without much concern. Is it because you are new?

 _Is it because your weapon the same like him so he thought of you as somewhat a junior? Or else?_

He shrugs it off. Packing his stuffs, he moves to another area where he could snipe better with minimal detection from the enemy. Keeping a close watch to the enemy as well as his teammates through his scope, he takes a deep breath before steadying his breath to pull another shot.

 _It's no use to think of it now._

* * *

After pulling a few shots, you notice how the healing substance won't heal the target like Medic heal the team with his Medi Gun. It certainly help them not feeling the pain for a certain period of time and boost their energy, but the wound won't closing up. Rather than calling it some healing substance, it is more like a painkiller. They have to find Medic before the pain getting back to them.

"It's urgently great, but also not effective if the wound won't close up… the bleeding is critical…" you mumble to yourself as you leaning flat against the wall, peeking around the corner. You adjust the rifle in your hand, but then winching in pain, cursing under your breath. Your right forearm has slashed quite deep by the enemy Spy when he ambushed you from behind. If Sniper hadn't get the man, you are certain it will be a tough battle. The wound has been bandaged in order to stop the bleeding.

 _You should be more cautious of your surrounding from now on._

Focusing yourself back to the present, you sneak around the corner, ascending the stairs to the upper balcony. You could see Medic supporting Heavy who is being a bit trigger happy at the enemy in front of them from your place.

 _Swoosh!_

You duck down side-way, whipping your head around quickly to see the enemy Scout is right behind you. His shirt is blue.

He clicks his tongue when he missed the swing, "Aww shoot! Can't ya stay still for a second, pal?"

"Nope!" as you answer, you sprint away.

Though of course, he is the Scout after all, so he easily catches up with you, "Yo what's up!"

He swings the bat again at you. You barely avoid it as you stumble and skidding on the floor. You roll to your side as his bat swing down onto the floor, making little crack on the surface. You didn't want to imagine if it managed to land on your skull.

Not giving you any chance to get away, he attacks you again which you parry with the body of your rifle. Though it didn't help much. You are pushed back, stumble on your feet, but now manage to hold your ground. You hiss under your breath when you feel your wound is opening up again.

 _You have to get away from this Scout. No matter what._

The exit is right beside you. You just have to get there without the enemy Scout gets you. Sound easy, if only he was slower, you thought to yourself as to humor the situation.

"So, this is how ya fight, other _Assistant_ ," the enemy Scout grins at you as he circles you around like a prey.

The fact he has the same face of your team's Scout, you did expect there is also another you in their team. You remember there was a medical test, and the doctor took some amount of your blood in the process. Miss Pauling also has informed you about this matter beforehand. You are baffled at the information and quite terrified, but deep down amazed at how advance the technology they have.

"I suppose the _other_ Assistant also fight just like me," you reply back, smiling for a moment at him.

Scout swings his bat as you duck around, trying to get closer to the exit. He catches you off guard by launching himself at you. You raise up your riffle to block his attack and can hear crack from it. That would be no good if your weapon get broken now you thought to yourself, winching in pain at the sting from your wound. He seems to take notice of it. The man launches his bat again, but now intentionally swing it at your right side, hitting the wound. Your breath hitch in your throat as you feel a great pain take a toll on your body. You cry out loud while holding your right forearm. Tears welling up on the side of your eyes and you can see stars while everything seem to slow down around you. He brings up the bat again and swing it down toward you.

 _The last thing you sense is the ringing in your ears before darkness overwhelm you._


	6. That One Episode

The smell of antibiotic and medicine lingers in the air when you enter the medical bay. Entering medical section is nothing unusual to you from your previous career, except it did not have a rather suspicious looking bucket with questionable content at the corner of the room. Is that blood splatter you are seeing? Since it looks like so. You are tempted to ask Medic about it but know better to leave it alone for later visit. Probably. You are not certain. And, as for the man himself, he is easily found by his desk, writing something on his paper. He seems enchanted with his writing by the time you are inside the office, and show slight surprise expression on his face. Slight, mind you. Just like when you are reading something and didn't realize someone is in the room and you are unfazed by it when you notice them. Just slightly surprise. Which what Medic's doing at you, lifting his face from his paperwork, acknowledge your presence with eyebrows up, "Oh, Assistant! I didn't hear you coming. My apologize, I vas too fixated viz my vriting," he smiles, almost apologetic.

You shrug it off and come closer to him, but still in appropriate distance where you respect his personal space, "Not a problem, Medic. I should have knock… a bit louder next time," it brings chuckle from the both of you.

"Gives me a few moment to finish zis paper and ve shall have our time togezer," his wording is weird but you let it slide and nod your head, giving the man the time and space he needs.

Examining the shelves will be your temporary business for the moment. Row of files are orderly organized alphabetically, yearly, numberly (if it's even a word) in one shelf. You could easily find your class file at the start of the alphabetical row, fingers tempted to slide open the glass but you decide not to. At another shelf you find bottles are lining up neatly with the name of their content written on each of the sticker plastered on their body. Despite a rather gruesome surgery he did to you before, he certainly make sure his office is neat and clean. Just like any sane doctor's office would be. You note to ask him what the bucket of whatever is doing at the corner of the room later.

"Alright, I'm done!" he speaks rather slowly at the 'alright' part and then excitedly at the last words. He spins on his chair and face you who is standing by the medicine shelf, looking back at him with acknowledgement.

He gestures you to sit on the empty chair in front of him which you obey to do. You comfortably settle yourself on the wooden chair, facing the Medic who patiently wait for you. When he is certain you are settled, he begins to speak, "How are you feeling, my friend?"

You are certain his question is connected to the previous event with you in the respawn room back then. He found you crouching and having tremor all over your body, heavy breathing, on the floor miserably. If someone forgot, you were 'defeated' by the enemy Scout and died before waking up in the respawn room. Know the feeling when you wake up from a really bad nightmare where you died? That's exactly it but with the addition of unbearable pain all over your body. It felt like every muscles and bones in your body tightening and moving against together to form solid body, just like when you try to place your misplaced joint back to its place, but repeatedly for a period of time. At that time, you wish you was never respawned and just die entirely.

"Not so much of a pain anymore. But I can still feel the atoms in my body working harder than usual to cope up with it. You know, first time is always hurting…" you say humorously.

Medic snorts at your joke and shake his head,"I assume you're feeling alright, zen."

"Yes, I am," you nod. Honestly, you are feeling quite uncertain. Will you experience it everytime you respawn? How did the others cope up with it?

He gives you a lingering look before standing up from his chair, walking toward the medicine shelf. He picks a few bottle and each he inspects before his decision fall to one particular bottle. You watch him with wonder, foots drumming silently onto the floor beneath you. He comes back to his chair and settled down before placing the bottle on his desk closer to you, "Take zis two times everyday, morning and night before you go to sleep. It vill help viz ze pain and accelerate ze body's adaptation to ze respawning system."

You gladly accept the medicine. Anything to help you to ease the painful experience faster. You look up to Medic with question, "Everyone take this medicine?"

"Some are, some not. Many of us adapt to ze system quickly it's insane sometimes," he chuckles but then smile knowingly, "but! Zen again, ve are insane aren't ve?"

You actually couldn't agree more with him. Who would have thought that someone could comeback alive? It never cross your mind until now. And a seemingly endless bloodbath war? The files that Miss Pauling has had provided for you did mention something about the war and the requirements required when you are hired. The in for a big surprise is certainly bigger than you expect it to be. And you are here, among them.

"Yes," you say finally.

You later discuss about the biotic bullet and its substance with him for a bit before going back to your room. In your room you write a report about the progression and possible improvements on the weapon for better effectiveness. Tomorrow you can place it inside the file box where someone would collect it and bring it to the company. That's what Engineer had told you about the box near the entrance of the base. How convenient.

Dinner will be in a few hours so you decide to take a shower to relax your muscles and mind. Grabbing your towel and hygiene stuffs, you stride down to the share bathroom and enter one of the stalls, closing the curtain behind you. There is another person already taking a shower at the stall near the entrance door. His whistles barely heard because of the running water. You recognize the song he is whistling is one of those pop rock songs.

Pay it no mind you go on with your own business, turning the shower on and relax under the falling water. You close your eyes as you let your whole body feel the coldness wash over your. _The image of the enemy Scout swung his bat down at you suddenly appear and make you grit your teeth. The sound of cracked skull resonated within you when the bat came in contact with you and you felt it throbbing before your consciousness fade away, and you succumb to darkness._ The images force you to open your eyes with a sharp gasp. Your arms are against the cold tiles of the bathroom, supporting your body which slightly trembling.

 _Don't worry. It has passed already and you are safe here—you will not experience it again, not yet for today, you are—_

"Hey, pal! Could ya lend me some shampoo? I forgot mine!"

You slowly look over your shoulder. That voice is all too familiar to your liking at your current state of mind, and you don't like that. It makes you repeat the same images with the enemy Scout. Your breath hitch in your throat when you hear the sound of curtain slid open and wet footsteps getting closer to your stall. Water still running down your body, tickling every nerves.

"Hey, man! Did ya hear me?"

 _Hey, what's up?_

Then the curtain of your stall is suddenly slid open which makes you grab your toothbrush and reacted instinctively to defend yourself.

The none other Scout also reacting back by stepping back when he sees your stance. Water drops trickling on his naked body and glisten under the lamp as he frowns and look at you puzzled, "Assy?! What the hell man?"

When he doesn't get any response from you other than the defensive look in your eyes, he steps closer to hold your hand which you respond with a jab of the toothbrush toward him. He barely avoids the sudden move if it's not for his fast reflex on catching your hand. Reacting back to his defense, you drop the toothbrush and twist your arm to cause the man yelp in pain and release his hold on your wrist. You duck around to get out of your stall. However, the water makes the tile floors beneath kind of slippery and cause you to trip on your way to escape.

Knowing this, Scout catches your body by surrounding his arms around your waist to prevent the fall. The force makes him stumble backward inside the stall. He spins his body so he land on his side with you in his arms, protecting your head from hitting the floor. It is silence for a moment and only the running water could be heard in the room. Both of you not moving as the shower above pouring down. It is Scout first who move his limbs. He groans as he does so. As for you, you are snapped out of your trance and trying to control your breath underneath him. Scout has make himself somewhat as an umbrella for you with his body when he got on his hands, shielding the pouring water.

You squeeze your eyes tightly before opening them again to see Scout is watching you with a frown. He looks annoyed but also concerned, "…what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Not replying him back soon, you sits up on the floor. Still trying to absorb the reality. You could not believe you are out of your mind and attack your teammate because of the memories. They may have the same face and voice, but you should know better to differentiate which is enemy and which is a mate. _They have the same face and voice._

Scout has turned off the water for both of you thankfully. He shifts on his position and cough to get your attention, which succeed, "Ahem. I think… we should get up or something. It's getting awkward—ya know? Ya don't wish we're caught in this position… riiiiiight?"

He is right. Both of you cramped like sardines in a can inside your stall and in such awkward position where both of you pressed against each other. Wet and naked. Aware with the situation both of you are in you curse under your breath and quickly stand up, holding a hand out to help Scout get up. The man gladly accept your offer and grab your hand. He gets on his feet and stretching out his sore muscles from the fall. He is thinking to crash to the medical bay later to let Medic examines him whether he get bone fracture or organ failure. He sighs and then look back at you, "So, what the hell happened with ya just then?"

You hang your head low to your side, not sure how to explain it to him. _Hey the enemy that looks like you and sound just like you killed me today. Sorry I thought you were him._ You laugh at the thought which earn you a confused and weird look from Scout.

"Ya gone crazy…? Did ya knock your head somewhere at the battle and lost your mind?" Scout cringes away a bit.

You wave your hand at him, "Not really. But kinda at knocking my head against something," _got knocked out to be exact_.

"Ya better let Medic to check your head later before you become insane, buddy. Just in case, ya know? To fix a loose screw. If you had screws though," Scout shrugs as he says so. You snort at him. It gets both of you laughing.

"Will think about it. So, what is it that you called me before?" you ask him. Changing the subject.

He goes along with it, "Shampoo. I forgot mine I told ya, before you decided to jab a toothbrush on my way."

"Damn… I'm so sorry, Scout," you hand him the bottle of shampoo to him. You look at him with a pang of guilt wash over you. _You even almost kill your mate and send him to respawn room again._

"Nah it's okay. I caught it easily, ya know, I'm just that good. Heh," he flexes his biceps proudly, grinning.

You roll your eyes at him and smile. Scout shrugs and moves back to his stall with the shampoo to continue his shower and leave you to your own. Before he completely close his curtain, you call him out.

"Scout?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so sorry again."

"No worries, pal."

Both of you close the curtain at the same time and continue showering without another word for the rest of time.


End file.
